The trading day started an hour after the government said the economy grew at a 2.5% pace in the first quarter, below the 3% consensus estimate of economists. The shortfall reinforced the perception the economy is grinding, not charging, ahead.

"There are some concerns as we head into the summer," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist for TD Ameritrade. "In the last three weeks, we've have seen (economic) numbers that weren't exactly what you'd love to see."

Corporate earnings out this week also contained worrisome signs. Many companies have fallen short of analysts' estimates for revenue, even as they report higher earnings. Investors are also troubled by the number of companies lowering expectations for profits and revenue in the coming months.

Fears the economy's growth will fizzle later this year sent investors into low-risk government bonds. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield, which moves inversely to the price, fell to 1.66% Friday, from 1.71% Thursday.

The price of gold finished $8.80 lower, down 0.6% to $1,453 an ounce. The precious metal plunged more than 20% the past few weeks, including a one-day 5% drop. It has recovered about half of that decline in recent days.

Wall Street closed modestly higher Thursday after the U.S. government reported the number of Americans seeking jobless benefits dropped last week by 16,000 and investors weighed in with mixed reviews of a slew of first-quarter earnings reports.

On Thursday, the Dow rose 0.2% to 14,700.80. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 1,585.16. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.6% to 3,289.99.

Benchmark oil for June delivery closed down about 80 cents to about $92.84 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.21 to close at $93.64 on the Nymex on Thursday.